13 Reasons to Stay at Home

• One sort of knows the rules at home, unlike in airport security:  Even after careful preparation of liquids bags, placement of electrical items and precision packing of the potential weapons in my manicure set (don't get me started about knitting needles), one must bow to the whims of the various security staff:  camera out? shoes off? is this belt deemed to be dangerous? do I walk through slowly or turn sideways and surrender?  Each airport is unique.  Some post detailed instructions, but I confess to going largely brain-dead soon after entering the queue.  No matter how skilled your juggling act, one rarely wins:  there is always some form of submission.
• The local store carries your particular hair colour; the Wal-Mart in Springfield, MO may does not.  Thus one may have to choose either the skunk stripe look or go with (nearly) purple (Swarzkopf's 'mahogany') and orange (L'Oreal's 'R4: dark auburn').  Maybe those are someone's high school colours or something?

Note the colourful plumage of the female tourist bird, Oklahomae englandii

• Living in Britain, one becomes accustomed to breathing fresh, genuine, natural air:  not re-cycled, de-humidified, cooled or 'conditioned', just plain air.  Trust me on this, ordinary is good.  Especially when one has jet lag, asthma, a toothache and resulting infection.  At that point, dry cold air hurts.

• Your local dentist works five days a week.  He will see you if you hurt.  Other people (like Bill) will even re-schedule their ordinary check up appointment to let a hurting person squeeze into the schedule.  In Atoka and Coal County OK, dentists work Monday -Wednesday only.  There is one dentist who apparently works on Fridays, except that he wasn't in on Friday.  Dentists may see patients on their list if they have an emergency.  If you call on Friday and you are not on their list, the recording tells you to call back Monday.  I had travel insurance (paltry though it was) and cash, for all the good it did me.  It doesn't bear thinking about what happens if a person  doesn't have money or a dentist of their very own, and  needs their very first root canal.

• In Britain, customers must provide a PIN to use their  credit card.  In the US, the staff occasionally might or might not ask for a wonky signature written on a computer screen which no one checks to see if it is the same name.  In general, just swiping the card is sufficient.  This means one must guard one's credit card with one's life.  Perhaps that's why so many people carry guns along with their credit cards.

• One's body has a softer time in the safety of its own home:  fewer insect bites, strained muscles from heavy luggage, bruises from furniture legs and table corners in unfamiliar bedrooms; never mind insomnia, dizziness, nausea and overall mush-brain caused by jet lag.

• One's hair grows more slowly in a cooler climate, thus one needn't ponder whether Super Cuts or your friend's daughter might be the worse option for taming one's mane.   So you do neither.  Warning:  get a full hair cut just before you leave home, not 'just a trim' a couple of weeks before.  (What was I thinking?)

• If one travels in summer and wishes to enjoy the coolness of linen, one must become adept at ironing not just on proper ironing boards, but also tables, chairs, beds or floors.  Warning:  if using the floor, be sure to put down a towel to protect  clothing from the carpet.  I'm sure it will be very clean (ha) but it may have synthetic fibres which do not respond well to a hot iron.  (I knew this one from previous experience, so didn't have this problem; also, at 55 I don't crawl around on the floor much anymore.)  Towels are a good idea for all these surfaces, come to think of it.  Note to self:  collect a non-creasing travel wardrobe.

• One must sort out the rules for tipping.  In Britain, 10% (easy math) is customary but only if the order was taken at the table and the food was brought to the table.  Last I knew, 15% was customary in the US, but what if I got my own food from a buffet?  Do I tip for coffee service?  You might guess what I did.

• Ah yes, sales tax.  Bill's rant number 34 (go ask him, I can't be bothered).  I confess to having been caught out a few times, thinking I'd not understood the sticker price when it came time to pay at the till.  Then, again, one learns to ask the motels about their full price after staying at the Best Western in Atoka and getting a nasty surprise at check out time.  Room rate?  Only 50-something dollars...plus city tax, state tax, county tax and occupancy tax (I'm not joking), so more like about $77 a night.

• At home, one knows in what sort of neighbourhood one lives.  A former home town may have changed a bit after 20 years.  One may check into a slightly cheaper hotel in what used to be a reasonable area only to discover the next morning that your Jamaican neighbour - friendly kinda guy - and his room mate are reporting to work across the road with their cardboard signs identifying passing cars that they are 'homeless'.  So, either they have found a good pitch and are doing all right or we accidentally spent the night in a homeless shelter.  I must admit that other than being a bit perplexed, I didn't have any complaint about the accommodation.

• At home, one doesn't need to figure out the electrical thingy to make British plugs work in American outlets.  The location of said outlets, of light switches and spare pillows is a known constant and doesn't change every 1-3 days.  This also applies to the general location of the bathroom and the precise location and height of the toilet, vital pieces of information for some us in the middle of the night.  Small things wear on a tired brain with extended travel.  

• After several weeks of driving on the 'right' side of the road and putting unleaded fuel into the rental car, one might on a weary post-race evening forget that in real life one drives a car that requires diesel, not unleaded petrol.  One might be so tired as to not realize the mistake until the car coughed and sputtered, eventually requiring it to be towed.  It could be a rather expensive mistake.  (I wish I had made this one up).   

What did I love about coming home? Absolutely Everything!  All that said, we really had a great time in our three weeks in the US and I will be writing to tell you no doubt more than you want to know about it in the coming weeks. 

Do you love coming home after a long vacation?

Packing Lessons Learned

I packed for the trip to Italy using a list for each of 4 locations:  1 suitcase, 2 front pocket of suitcase, 3 my purse, and 4 the liquids bag.  When I unpacked at home after the holiday, I made a list of every single item and made notes about whether I'd take it again.

For clothes, I mostly used this advice, that I thought came from Unclutterer, but darned if I can find it there.  (Anyone know who says to do this?)

Take two fewer bottoms and one less top than the number of days the trip will last, including what you wear on travel days. (For a five-day trip, 3 bottoms and 4 tops). Pack one extra pair of shoes (dressy flats and wedges are good), and add 1 cardigan. Wear a jacket on the plane. Mostly stick with simple pieces, but mix in one dressy skirt & top to pair for a festive evening out.

Except, I packed for 5 days instead of for 10, knowing that I would be able to wash, hang and even iron, if necessary.

The long-sleeved tee and wool cardigan I wore on the plane were too hot for Italy, but the water-proof jacket, my trainers and the lightweight navy cotton slacks were useful at other times.

So, what worked well?

My Eagle Creek backpack was perfect for this trip.  It converts to a regular suitcase and Bill found me a shoulder strap which came in handy, but I would only carry that amount of weight on a shoulder strap for a very short time. I paid about $100 for this backpack 17 years ago, after reading Rick Steves’ Europe through the Back Door (only one from about 1993).  I’ve never regretted that purchase, though it seemed a lot to me at the time. Although it would be nice to have the option of wheels, with Europe's many stairs and cobbled streets, wheels are often a real nuisance. The waist strap of the backpack was great for taking weight off my shoulders and making the backpack pretty comfortable.

5 white tops. Kept colour coordination simple. I took any technical tops I had, as long as they had no writing on.

1 blue linen shirt. This dressed up a top a tiny bit for evening and served as arm cover when I wore a tank top.

Light blue waterproof jacket. Handy once when it rained, but Bill’s umbrella would have done. On the other hand, this with a wool cardigan is good for in England

4 bottoms. Navy cotton slacks, beige linen skirt, taupe zip-off cargo pants, black 3/4 length pants. I didn't end up zipping off the cargo pant bottoms, as I don't care for shorts, and I'd decided these didn't earn their way.  However, upon our return when I had to pack away my purse, all those pockets served wonderfully in lieu of purse, and so I'd take them again. They were also made of technical material that dries overnight.

3 pairs of shoes:  every need met.  The trainers were good for heavy carrying days.  Leather sandals worked for most others.  I wore cork wedgies (light!) for evenings. The leather sandals got washed in the machine on our return and they came out like new!

5 pair underwear, 2 bras, 7 hankies. Plenty.

House keys.  (We've broken into our house 3 times now; I keep a back up set on me at all times).

Bobby pins / hair grips and clips were good to put up my hair when it got hot.

Nail clippers and emery board are always in my toiletries for emergencies.

When my liquids bag got full, I used Bill's spare capacity.

Bill and I shared the same toothpaste.

Renu contact solution (60 ml). Though I usually need saline for sensitive eyes, I found I could use this solution - as intended - as both cleaning and saline solution (though I wouldn't put it directly into my eye; I brought small bottles of eye drops for that).  I only used about 20-30 ml, so wouldn't worry about taking a partial or smaller bottle on the next trip.

Eye drops x 3; I only had partial bottles around the house, but turns out I didn't use these as much as I thought; 1 would have sufficed.

Toothbrush with a cap, dental floss, contact case, make-up brush, Eyelash curler, razor.  Check.

Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry Touch SPF 30 (29 ml).  I used this as moisturizer when mine ran out.  It was brilliant.

Burts bees lip stick, Bourjois concealer (10 ml):  both nice and small!

I refilled a small Nivea tin (30 ml) with Vaseline for removing eye make-up.  This worked perfectly.

Hair conditioner tube supplied in hair colouring kit, just the right size.

Plastic ziplock bag for makeup.  Makes it easy to see and put my hands on what I want quickly.

I buy the sets of small bottles of perfume at duty free or at Boots (a drugstore/ chemist) when I see them. They work as stocking-stuffer Christmas presents, but are also the right size for this purpose. I have some samples in vials as well, but the perfume isn't as nice as True Love. 

I took a brown eyeliner pencil, an eyebrow pencil, and a Body Shop crayon concealer pencil, all very short -- not to mention slim, so took up less space; however, I also needed the pencil sharpener for the first two. I use every smidgeon of make-up and use a lipstick or other brush to reach all the corners. 

A tea towel in a ziplock bag to keep us tidy when picnicking. 

Small coin purse to put British currency in when using Euros. This bag also stores the Euros in the file cabinet along with US currency (in a different bag) for the next trip to either.  Even a small amount of cash and coins is useful to get started on a trip.  We tend to use ATMs / cash points in foreign countries, and I draw dollars out of my American credit union account when we are there.  In Europe, a new credit card is available that supposedly charges lower conversion fees.  Need to check that out.  A Bureau de Change may say it doesn't charge a fee, but then they don't give good conversion rates.  On this trip we noticed a 24% difference in their offers for buy and sell.

Notebook and pens: essential travel kit! 

Camera – can’t imagine life without it now!  I take a spare set of re-chargable batteries and the battery charger...and the electric thingy to plug it in.

GP prescription. Not needed, thankfully, but I take it in case I lose medications; unlikely, but I've become accustomed to being able to breathe. Same with spare contacts lenses. 

What didn’t work 

I took a blue cloche hat that I think is very flattering, but it turned out to be far too hot for Italy. My white baseball cap from Club LaSanta worked great for shade and travelled fine, but it's not very fashionable, is it?  I took a straw hat that didn’t pack as well as I thought it would, so it didn’t see much wear and I probably need to replace it.  Any suggestions for what hats travel well? 

My favourite red purse, a shoulder bag that belonged to my Aunt Rita, was an ideal size but tedious to carry in addition to my backpack. Would chose one that closed at the top for more security.  I looked for a smart leather backpack style purse, but most of the straps were zippers, which looked uncomfortable.  Didn't buy anything in the end.

Cargo pants (well secured to stay up!) might work best for travel days with backpack.  Easy to find in technical fabrics and neutral colours.

A pink scarf  I wear in bed when it’s cold: useless in that hot climate. I need to remember that 70 degrees feels more like 85 to me now that I’m more acclimatised to the colder weather. 

Asthma inhalers and tablets. Took 2 each. One each would have been fine, as long as they were full. 

Sweeteners. Never used. I can’t bear strong continental coffee and so usually switch over to tea. Discovered cappuccinos were quite nice.  Sweeteners were available on the table in most places. 

Sun glasses & case. I hate wearing sunglasses, preferring hats to keep the sun out of my eyes. Both were clumsy when using the camera. 

Electronic organiser with addresses. I never even thought about postcards once we landed. Maybe write address labels next time to help me remember? 

Running clothes (how we kid ourselves...). Neither of us was up to running after the first day of walking around in the heat. That said, the running bra was more comfortable than the underwire when carrying the backpack. 

Swimsuit and cover up. I would give this a miss unless it was specifically a beach holiday. I had hopes since we were near the Med, but to no avail. Bill even brought a beach towel, bless him. 

Dick Frances book. Was a great read, but travel was rather hard on this book, as it didn’t get the preferential treatment of being close to hand that Simone de Beauvoir got. 

Winter running socks for travel days. It wasn’t that cold travelling, so I’d skip these. Same with the socks I took to wear as slippers. Hot weather = bare feet! 

What I’ll be trying next time 

Maybelline base make-up SPF 15 (30 ml). Good make-up, but in a heavy glass bottle. Will look for smaller, non-glass container or maybe try using up all those samples I’ve collected from magazines!  Or just use concealer /highlighter and have a less made-up face. 

Mascara and lip gloss – find smaller ones. Elizabeth Arden has a tiny mascara. 

Solid deodorant – does this have to be in liquids bag? Look this up before next trip.  Keep an eye out for smaller toiletries, generally.  Rarely see them here in Britain outside of the duty free at the airport (at a ridiculous price).

Brought back 10 pouches of shampoo/shower gel (but left the small bars of soap – I have a lifetime supply already). Will use these shampoos instead of bringing my own. 

Rimmel nail polish (12 ml). Smaller bottles of nail polish available now. Either that or go without nail polish altogether. 

Styling brush and hair dryer with electrical thingy. About half the places we stayed had hair dryers, so I might have managed with out. Perhaps work on finding a wash and wear hair style or wear more hats? 

An envelope would have come in handy for all the scraps of paper we collected. 

Fewer grocery bags and more large zip lock bags. One of the grocery bags was a heavy, decorative plastic that I’d intended to use as a beach bag if needed. I think it would have sufficed, but still needs tested. On the other hand were we going on a beach holiday, which means staying in one place for the majority of the trip, I’d probably pack quite differently, take my beach bag and make it double as a purse. 

2 tea towels instead of one. 

Look for more technical clothing instead of linen, so I don’t need a travel iron to feel presentable. 

Electrical thingy and battery chargers: We need more than one as we both have electrical items to use/charge. 

40 ml bottle of shampoo. Useful to know I only used about 30 ml during the 10 day trip. Will go with the sachets we’ve saved up. 

Billfold with all my loyalty/membership cards. I’ll be looking to find a simpler wallet and to leave most all this at home.  Only need 1 cash card, 1 credit card, place for paper and place for coins.

Pink cotton nightdress. A shorter one or sleeping in one of the technical t-shirts might have saved an ounce or two of weight. 

60 ml body lotion wasn’t quite enough.  Will take 100 ml next time.

Spray on Sport SPF 30 (29 ml): see running clothes.

I may look into posting boxes home in future, in the event that I see something I desperately want but can't cram into my luggage. Mind, if it costs more than it would have to check a suitcase, it would defeat the object, but I know there was the option of posting a 20 pound box $20 from the US not too long ago.

One might think from all this that I'm really infatuated with the whole packing thing, but I'm not.  In fact I dread it and put it off to the very last minute.  I think I'm frightened of making decisions I'll be stuck with for the duration of the trip, scared of what I might forget.   I only survive the ordeal at all because of all these lists!  I hope some of these ideas were useful for you.

How do you plan your packing for holidays?

Wishlists

The hardest people to buy gifts for are the ones who just go out and buy whatever it is they want as soon as they want it, which is probably most everyone I know these days. Mom always had me give her a 'wishlist' for my birthdays and Christmases, from the time I was in my early teens. I would be careful to include plenty of items with a small price tag, as she didn’t have much money. That said, she was good at saving up and she liked giving me ‘real jewelry’ so big things weren’t out of the question. My list might include a new set of measuring cups (to go with the current colour scheme in the kitchen), a half slip, a record album (we are talking about the dark ages, here) and an emerald necklace. She wasn’t limited to what was on the list, but I always knew that a fair number of gifts would come from it.

I would try to give it to her a month or two in advance, but it would be compiled over quite a few months' time. A long list didn’t indicate greed, it only gave the giver more items from which to choose. This practice may have been part of my early training in frugality, come to think of it. If something was on my wishlist, I couldn’t buy it myself in case she chose that item, so I learned to wait for what I wanted.

Bill and I have taken up exchanging wishlists to save making expensive mistakes and disappointment. I’m not as good as I used to be at coming up with it early and it doesn't seem to be as long. I think it’s likely that my real wishlists now are more about things that can’t be bought, which is not helpful.

I use Bill’s wishlist to give me clues about what else I might surprise him with. This is where Amazon is helpful. Knowing he liked books and films about Dorothy L. Sayers’ character, Lord Peter Wimsey, I guessed he might like Margery Allingham’s Albert Campion, and I was right. Once I've decided which items I will buy, I share the remainder of Bill's list with his 3 children; he has to struggle with my list alone.

I gave Bill my birthday wishlist a few days ago – and I’ve added a couple items as I’ve discovered them. I’m quite looking forward to what surprises await me in a couple of weeks.

What would you put on your wishlist?

Packing List

It's been my life's dream to be 'organised', hence my love of lists. I now know I'm unlikely to ever realise this dream because things rarely stay organised, even if you ever get them there. Lists can sometimes be the exception to this; even if they need to change they can still be a useful starting point. In the interest of being helpful, I give you my packing list.

Packing list
coffee stuff – at least sweetener
toothbrush & paste & floss
contact case (dry); eye drops
spare lenses / saline / cleaner
eye glasses & case
inhalers & asthma tablets; malaria tablets if necessary
shampoo, crème rinse; hair dryer, brushes
other hair products?
make-up
deodorant; razor; body lotion; moisturiser
nail stuff; at least emery board & nail clippers
sunscreen (body & face);
aloe vera gel in case sunscreen fails
mosquito repellent
fake tan (pale & medium)
nightgown, robe, house shoes (socks)
handkerchiefs, underwear and bra
tights & slips?
beach towel and 2 swimsuits; beach bag
sandals, walking shoes, heels?
shorts and tops; sun dresses
running/cycling stuff x 2 or 3
regular/trail/race shoes; shoe bag?
electric thingy for foreign electricity
charger for phone
laptop and charger?
heart rate monitor; mobile phone, camera, plane/train/boat tickets
car parking arrangements
passport and photocopy (separate!)
locks for suitcases (keys separate)
maps / race documents / tour guides
addresses (electronic &/or printed) for postcards
pictures to share
book, magazine, needlework
reading glasses
foreign currency; (US & UK) credit cards
Work: room reservation, presentation, work papers; change of clothes
If self-catering, consider: mugs, coffee, milk, margarine, dish soap, sponge, tea towel, salt, rice, oatmeal, pasta, olive oil, bottle opener, knife sharpener

Highlighted items go in carry on or purse. Pack messy stuff in plastic zipper bags. Take extra zip lock bags and a couple of plastic bags for dirty clothes. Pack the night before, circling any items that have to go in last minute.

Makes me tired just reading this. I always dread packing for a trip so much I'd almost rather not go.

And I think I'm fairly low maintenance...

Top of My List

OK, I'll admit it: I've been holding out. I shared earlier about some web logs that are wild and funny, but they aren't actually the ones I visit most often. I'll tell you about my current favourites, but you have to promise to come back and see me now and then, OK?

They are a diverse lot and I like them for different reasons but, sorry guys, they are all pretty girly except the last. One day I'll figure out how to do one of those blog roll things (makes me think of toilet paper and so it hasn't been a top priority as yet) on the side bar, but for now I'll just tell you about them.

I Googled something about 50-year-olds and clothing after getting sick of looking at skinny-minnies in skimpy styles -- many of which I've already done, thank you very much. This is currently my very favourite blog. I'm not big on the way it's presented and the name's a bit weird (Second Cherry), but I find the content about clothing, shopping, women's issues, (and thrift!) absolutely spot on. I think she and I would have a lot to talk about, even clothes and stuff aside. I like reading about her life as a Brit living in France and her insights into French culture. I've linked you to one of my favourite pages, but look around and see what else you find. I think she's cured me of my very expensive women's magazine addition.

As authors go, you probably couldn't find a more opposite person at my second favourite, Pleasant View Schoolhouse. I was first impressed with how nice her blog looks. I wish my house were half as clean and uncluttered. She makes beautiful use of her very talented son's photography and the content describes a serene, affluent lifestyle, focusing on the domestic and family aspects. I believe she lives somewhere in Colorado.

My next favourite is Like Merchant Ships, who lives in Nashville. Her lifestyle has much in common with the previous blogger, but with more emphasis on thrift and raising small children. Her blog has the look of a slightly more hectic life, (ie a bit more average stay-at-home mom) but it is very easy to navigate. She networks a great deal with other web logs and whilst I can't tell how (if?) she makes money from her blog, she really works at producing it and there is a lot of creative ideas and thoughtful labour on display.

Finally, Zen Habits is written by a guy who lives in Guam. Much like Pleasant View Schoolhouse, his blog presents an almost surreally calm existence in spite of the fact that he has 6 children. He apparently has over 50,000 subscribers so he must be doing something right. I have to admire the discipline this man has. I read his posts about motivation, productivity, simplicity and happiness with a great deal of awe and in much the same way as years ago I rented a Jane Fonda aerobic video and sat watching it in my bathrobe...

I love the content of each of these, but I also am hoping to learn about about managing a weblog from them. Hope you enjoy!

Gratitude List

I have developed the impression that ‘gratitude’ is sort of an old-fashioned idea or is seen (particularly amongst the stiff-upper-lip Brits) as a bit soppy or perhaps it’s seen as somehow subservient. Popular culture tells us we’re entitled to all the good we get. I won’t argue with that concept, but if one never registers any gratitude, what use is the good in our lives? In the absence of gratitude we are condemned to a life of discontent.

Some friends taught me long ago that it was a good practice to periodically write a gratitude list and to carry it with me, even, for frequent referral in bad times. I’ve written most of my gratitude lists when I was at my lowest; sometimes I had to dig deep to find anything for which I was honestly grateful, but finding one or two things at first, others rolled along. The longer my gratitude list, the more I felt bolstered up against the present troubles. It enabled me to spend more time looking at the good than at the bad and that was a big source of strength.

Compared with other times, my life is brilliant these days and my list could probably go on forever, but walking to my sewing circle this morning, it crossed my mind to think about what I might put on such a list. Today I am very grateful for:

1. Having Bill in my life. He is probably the most thoroughly decent man I’ve ever met. He also happens to be smart, funny and to share many of the values that I hold. I know he’s not perfect, but he’s one of the best things ever to have happened to me.

2. Having had the family that I did, particularly my parents. I grew up knowing that I was very loved and wanted. This isn’t a gift given to every child. They weren’t perfect either, but they gave me wonderful things like time and patience, work ethic, respect for others, permission to be myself. I could add each of these individual endowments and many others to my list. I don’t have a lot in common with my remaining family (my parents’ lifestyle was fairly bohemian in the midst of the Bible Belt), but I know we love one another and pull together when it counts.

3. I enjoy good health. Some of it is down to my efforts, but a lot of it is a gift. I have my sight and my hearing (such as they are) and all the other faculties one needs to enjoy a full and active life. Although afterwards I felt like I’d been rolled down a hill in a barrel, as of last night I can still run as far as 7 miles even if it takes longer than it used to. My asthma, if that diagnosis is correct, is more of a nuisance than a major threat, at least for the time being. There is an endless list of afflictions I am grateful not to have.

4. It’s generally always a mistake to compare ourselves with others, but if I’ve learned anything from my travels it is to compare myself not with my neighbours or my friends, but on a much wider scale. In that bigger scheme of things I have to acknowledge that I am very wealthy indeed. I have everything I need and a great deal of what I want (and most people I know are actually in that same situation). I could list my home, my car, my clothes – the lot.

5. I have friends that I enjoy, people in my life that I care about. I don’t have as many life-long friends as I might, had I stayed in my home town instead of moving away and then abroad, but I’ve kept a few and made a few more on the way and I’m grateful for the special people who are in my life. Though I may not see them for weeks, months or years, we are in contact thanks to the miracle of the Internet and in my thoughts very frequently.

6. I’m grateful for the life I’ve led thus far, even the parts I didn’t much enjoy at the time. I mostly like the person I’ve become and I love the life I’m living now. I don’t know that, had the past been any different than it was, I would be what and where I am today. After that bit of philosophical reasoning, perhaps it’s clearer to say I feel very lucky to have travelled as widely, had interesting jobs, met interesting people and experienced the things I have. Had I had a different life, made different choices, it may still have been as rich, but the life I’ve had up until now has far exceeded what I ever dreamed about growing up.

I’ll stop here; you get the idea, I’m sure. The next time you feel a bit of dissatisfaction creeping in, I recommend getting out a paper and pen and jotting down your gratitude list. Works every time for me.

Books in March

I didn't read as much as usual last month, which I take as a good sign that I was busy doing more productive things. Still, books are a major love in my life. These are the library books I read in March. There were half a dozen others that I checked out but couldn't bring myself to read past the first chapter. As you can see, I started at the beginning of the fiction section; I tend to choose authors who have at least two books on the shelves at the time of my selection. I wonder if I'll ever get past the A's?

Bad Manors - Lisa Armstrong
Brick Lane - Monica Ali
Half of a Yellow Sun - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
MacDougal Street Ghosts - Hesper Anderson
Midnight Flight - Virginia Andrews
The Five People You Meet in Heaven - Mitch Albom
Viva vintage : find it, wear it, love it! - Trudie Bamford

Happy List

Some book I read once suggested making a list of 100 things that made me happy and then making sure I had enough of those things in my life (and when I find that book again, I will credit the author). I did this a couple of years ago just for fun. I was surprised how difficult it was to actually name 100 things.

I included time with my favourite people, activities I enjoy, places, possessions, animals, colours and textures, anything I could come up with. For a while I busied myself trying to make sure I included some of those things in my life – reading good books, planning the next Mediterranean holiday, smelling flowers and petting animals I passed on the street. Then, being frugally minded, I took at look at the costs associated with the items on my ‘Happy List’, putting an 'x' by items that cost a little and 3 x's by the most expensive.

I found that having an enjoyable run (somewhat serendipitous, but more often associated with being fit, or at least with pacing myself properly), finding new combinations in which to wear the clothes and jewelry I own, dinner by candlelight (and 51 other items) were all pretty much free of charge. Fresh, juicy fruit, having dinner parties and long hot showers (and 18 other things, including a long list of shockingly sinful foods) weren’t particularly dear. At the more pricey end, things like sunshine and alcohol are best enjoyed in moderation anyhow and if one lived in Greece or France it would soon become commonplace, which would be infinitely sad.

This was really valuable information for me when considering whether I could afford to 'retire' early. I left work knowing that I was still going to have a very high quality of life full of things that give me great pleasure.

Pantry and Menu Lists

As I mentioned earlier I read a lot of weblogs from SAHMs and they seem to treasure sharing their weekly menus; this seems to be a big help for them. I gather they use this menu to do their weekly shopping. I shopped this way when I still relied heavily on recipes and found it to be quite expensive. These days I keep a pantry stocked of ingredients I know how to make into meals, as advised by my Tightwad Gazette newsletters. My pantry list here in England is slightly different to what I used in the US, but having a starting point was helpful for me, so I'll share my pantry list with you:

Vegetables
Broccoli
Carrots
Frozen peas
Instant mashed potatoes
Onions
Bell peppers
Potatoes
Swede (turnip)
Tinned tomatoes
Others as in season

Dairy
UHT skimmed milk
Dry/powdered milk
Margarine
Eggs
Cheese

Beverages
Coffee
Hot chocolate
Diet tonic / lemonade / cola
Tea

Fruits
Bananas
Apples
Mandarin oranges (tinned)
Fruit cocktail (tinned)
Pineapple (tinned)
Olives
Others as in season

Grains
White flour, plain
Strong white flour
Strong wholemeal (wheat) flour
Popcorn
Rice
Wheatgerm
Oatmeal
Cornmeal

Baking
Vegetable oil
Olive oil
Baking powder
Baking soda
Salt
Shortening
Yeast (machine and hand)
Sunflower seeds
Nuts
Raisins / Currants
Soy flour
Sugar
Gelatin
Cornstarch
Vinegar
Sprinkles
Food colourings
Vanilla

Condiments
Catsup
Mayonnaise
Mustard
Honey
Marmalade
Pickles
Jam
Garlic bulbs

Juices
Orange
Lemon
Grape
Apple
Cranberry

Legumes
Peanut butter
Dried beans
Lentils
Tinned beans
Tinned kidney beans

Meats / Poultry
Chicken
Turkey
Ground beef
Bacon / sausages
Pepperoni
Corned beef

Fish
Canned tuna
Canned salmon
Frozen miscellaneous white fish

Pasta
Pasta shapes (Bill hates spaghetti)

Seasonings
Bouillon cubes (all flavours)
Soy sauce
Worcestershire sauce
Tomato paste / puree
Herbs & spices

We buy other items when they are on sale or for a special occasion, but these are the ingredients I try to always have around. I do a big shop at a green market once a month for fresh vegetables, which we prefer. When those begin to run out, we fill in with frozen and tinned veg until the next shop. I aim to keep topped up on other items from stores within walking distance. When this doesn't keep up, I use the car and stock up from several sources.

Then, being spoiled for choice with all this bounty and wanting to eat healthily and with variety, I drew up a rota for protein choices over 10 days. This aimed to eat red meat once a week or less, eat fish twice a week, have more vegetarian meals, low fat, etc. The 10-day rota I developed is:

Beans - Poultry - Fish - Beans - Cheese - Fish - Veggie - Meat - Beans - Eggs

Side dishes or casserole ingredients usually include a starch or grain (eg potatoes, rice, pasta, couscous) and vegetables. To make it easier to cook with dried beans, I'll soak and cook these up in advance, usually in the crockpot, and freeze portions for future use. I don't usually serve individual vegetables but instead fill a steamer basket with combinations of red, yellow, green and white vegetables. I do occasionally make a pie or cake, but if I do desserts at all they are most likely to be sliced or pureed fruit with or without whipped cream.

For each of these protein/main courses, I know one or two dead easy recipes. When we get bored with those, I look through my recipe books or use http://www.allrecipes.com/. The ingredient search on that website allows you to specify what you want to include and exclude from a recipe, which is brilliant.

We don't slavishly follow this list and of course many dishes include more than one source of protein, eg quiche or chili with beans. I like my system because I have something to look at for ideas. Then I just dig around in the cupboards or freezer to see what sort of fish or beans surface first. The race to eat the fruit and veg before it goes off makes us easily get a healthy number of servings; if all else fails I cook and freeze the surplus in soups or casseroles rather than throw it away.

Over the past 6 months, we have averaged just under £100 a month for our food. This has fed Bill and me and includes Thanksgiving dinner for 10, Christmas dinner for 6 and a few dinner parties for 4-6 people.

Little Old List-maker, Me

I’m a list-maker. Most people are, but I’m a bit more compulsive than some. I make lists about my plans: things to do today, deadlines to meet this month, goals for the year; big projects I want to tackle one day, minute instructions for myself. Christmas gift lists and wish lists, packing lists, grocery lists, American shopping lists, vacation places to consider, recipes and crafts to try, exercise plans, guest lists, cleaning chores, ‘super foods’ I want to eat more.

I make lists about my past: ‘done’ lists, cities and countries visited, cars, homes, offices, men, jobs, dogs, classes toward a degree, debts paid, races and race times, the major events and accomplishments of the past year, what I ate yesterday.

I make lists to keep track and to pay attention: what the freezer and the pantry contain, what foods are currently in season, websites and weblogs I visit often. I list what I don’t like about me and what I do, the roles and responsibilities I have and how I’m doing with those. I make gratitude lists to keep my perspective and happy lists to make sure I have enough fun (making lists is on my happy list!) As a teen I remember once making a ‘List of Things to Worry About’; it must have been a stressful time.

My lists occasionally become inventories, databases or projects. Lists of stamps, coins, albums, DVDs, books and Christmas ornaments (with dates ranging from 1944 to present) morph into calculations of my net worth or background research for posting items on Ebay. My pantry list has become a database of food prices. My electronic address book is a database with spreadsheets for the UK, the US and Oklahoma, email addresses and birthdays (does the Data Protection Act apply to my address book?). I compare a list of items I want to frame with a list of the picture frames I found in the attic; sewing pattern requirements with fabric in my stash. I list the characteristics I require when looking for a new house, car or freezer; what I want in my next job.

Sometimes these lists are to help me get more done, other times just to procrastinate doing anything. Writing a list still makes me feel a little more in control, which is usually comforting, whether or not it’s entirely true. My lists are my way of reflecting about my previous choices, about the course of my life and how different that is to what I thought it would be. They also help me to keep going, seeing all that I have done in the past gives me more confidence to persevere. Virtually every one of my dreams, schemes or intentions begins life in a list.

Books

I cannot imagine life without books; I've been a reader all my life. Some of my earliest memories are seeing my parents reading (often with the radio or TV on in the background whereas I prefer silence). I never have enough bookshelves. My favourite rooms in the grand houses I've toured are nearly always the libraries.

My local library now has online access, great for renewing loans about to be overdue! It also keeps track of the books borrowed in the past year. I've often wished for this information, sometimes to retrieve a special book but also just to have an overview of what has been going into my brain. Everyone believes the books a person chooses tells a lot about them which is why we display our books and take pride in the large number or their intellectual quality.

My library book list mainly shows that I'd rather read than do anything useful and it's even worse considering I frequently re-read most of the books I own. This list also indicates my recent interests in subjects and authors. I've grouped them by fiction and non-fiction, but otherwise they appear more or less in the order they were borrowed.

Knitting: 20 simple & stylish wearables for beginners – Ham, Catherine
Ragwork – Reakes, Lizzie
Last-minute Knitted Gifts – Hoverson, Joelle
Your Money or Your Life – Hall, Alvin D
Converting to an Eco-friendly Home – Hymers, Paul
How to Cook Everything – Bittman, Mark
The Energy Efficient Home – Waterfield, Patrick
Thrifty Ways for Modern Days – Lewis, Martin
Your Taxes & Savings – Lewis, Paul
Wild Blackberry Cobbler & Other Old Fashioned Recipes – Stewart, Katie
Every Second Counts – Armstrong, Lance
Castle – Morris, Marc
The Bicycle Book – Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Allotment Book – Cleveland, AM
The Half-hour Allotment – Leendertz, Lia
Vegetables for Small Gardens – Brown, Lynda
The Freelance Writer’s Handbook – Crofts, Andrew
Life Stripped Bare – Hickman, Leo
Practical Allotment Gardening – Foley, Caroline
Women’s Institute Complete Christmas – Cook, Sian
Find a Fortune – Spicer, Lorne

Hit List, Burglars Can’t be Choosers, A Dance at the Slaughterhouse and All the Flowers are Dying - Block, Lawrence
Weep for Me – MacDonald, John D
The Lollipop Shoes - Harris, Joanne
The Clerkenwell Tales – Ackroyd, Peter
Bad Men and The White Road – Connolly, John
Saving Fish from Drowning – Tan, Amy
The American Boy, The Suffocating Night, and A Stain on the Silence - Taylor, Andrew
In the Company of Cheerful Ladies, Morality for Beautiful Girls and The Kalahari Typing School for Men - McCall Smith, Alexander